Health and Safety Committee
Meeting: April 24, 2014 - 1:00 PM
- Loïc B Boyer (Safety & Security)
- Julian Lebensold (VCTA)
- Johanna Cosentino (Human Resources)
 - Evelynne Barten (VCSPA)
- Linda Macpherson (Student Services)
- Ginny Iaboni (AVCP)
- Wanda Kalina (Academics)
- Nhat Pham (VCSA)
Subjects:
1. Introduction: Elizabeth
2. Follow up: Minutes
Last meeting was April 24, 2013
There were no minutes from the last meeting because the last person responsible is no
longer at Vanier.
3. Follow up: JHSC Email
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The new email JHSC was officially created April 23rd, 2014
The committee decided how it was going to be used; everything will be sent and forwarded
to Safety and Security.
It was decided that a formal protocol needs to be prepared and the community needs to be
advised of details; including an email/memo sent out to Introduce JHSC and its members, for
community concerns and for the details about the meetings .
The committee decided that all requests/concerns will go through the health and safety
email ( jhsc@vaniercollege.qc.ca )
4. Follow up: Action Plan
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In January 2012 Vanier College signed an agreement with the CSST. CSST put forward a 15
point action plan over a 5 year period ending in December of 2016.
We have now completed the Machine Safety Report, and the following will be electrical
Safety.
It was found that 7 out of 150 machines in the College were set to standards during the
audits because of the new CSST by-law in 2001 that became more stringent.
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The bulk of the machines that are in the 150 are in Employee Only areas. The majority of the
ones that have already been fixed are in BSET quarters.
Vanier worked with CCSM to complete compliance measures.
5. Machine Safety report
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The CSST Machine Safety report was completed October 2013
Vanier is the 2nd college to have finished the project
Summary of the report:
o There were 150 machines that initially needed to be dealt with
o 5 out of the 150 were considered 0 tolerance - they were removed April 2012
o The Less serious machinery -that have been dealt with are the ventilation machinery
o The last ones to have been brought to standards were the woodshop machinery (more
complicated because used daily). These were completed by October 2013
o Some machinery was adapted, some was removed; most were fixed to fit the CSST
regulations
6. Electrical Safety project
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The Electrical Safety project is point 6 of 15 in the action plan.
The goal for the Electrical Safety project is for all machines that have to be powered, to have
a valve, (a breaker) that can be shut off, padlocks; so that once the machines are off only
those who are trained can turn them back on.
Also there would be a 3-4 page procedure per machine on turning off the machinery.
Training would be done for anyone that would be affected by these changes in operation
(including BSET, Service department, and security).
The whole thing would be around 100,000$ project for the 150 machines, it would include
the training, software and updates needed for all the machineries. Every machine would be
identified and have its own protocol made.
The total number of machines in Vanier is estimated to be around 8 or 9 hundred.
7. Provisions on the safe management of Asbestos ( RSST, Art. 69)
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March 2013 CSST changed its laws regarding asbestos
The Action plan regarding the new laws ; consists in majority of the plan to drill in holes in
walls everywhere to get samples to check where the asbestos is found and what type
2 types of asbestos - flocking and insulating material
Asbestos remains safe as long as it is not moved, a report & registry will be made of all
locations with Asbestos
Asbestos registry will be made public, all flocking areas with asbestos will be inspected every
2 years
Registry will be made available as precaution to not touch affected areas, for Service
department as well for contractors
Contract with CCSR - Tender will be done during the summer by CCSR, more news will be
presented at the next committee.
8. Evacuation of the N building
 Issue in fire safety in the N building; not enough fire marshals in case there is a fire because
limited amount of full time staff members.
 New signage for evacuations spots, N building evacuation not safe enough because people
congregate In front of exit doors instead of moving 70 metres away during a fire emergency
 Signage needs to be created for both the Lachute Station and our campus
 Members from the ECE department need to have Procedures for evacuating the children set
and implemented.
 The committee members for fire marshals needs to be revised, and training for new fire
Marshalls needs to be completed, to get full memberships done College Wide.
9. Bio Safety officer: Containment Level 2
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Vanier College’s offers Microbiology courses for Biology and Animal Health; based on that
criterion the Public Health Agency of Canada has classified Vanier College as a Containment
level 2 for the last 3 years.
In order to obtain and handle he microbiological pathogens used in the course a permit is
needed, as well as a Bio-Safety Officer is needed.
Currently the Bio-Safety Officer is an animal health teacher Caroline Senay, this is the third
teacher in 3 years to fill the position without any training. A 25 page form needs to be filled
by December 2014 in order to receive the permit.
The committee agreed that the Deans of the departments which this concerns need to find a
solution to filling out the form for the permit. Vanier needs a Biosafety Manual for all
procedures.
There is also the concern that a teacher being the Bio-Safety officer is not suitable for the
needs of the College, as some teachers do not work full-time and are not necessarily
available 12 months out of the year.
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Ginny Iaboni needed to leave at this point
10. Painting during working hours ( HR)
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Based on changes in permissions to enter in HR, painting is only to be done during work
hours. There are concerns about safety hazards as well as working in an unpleasant and
uncomfortable environment concerning all types of construction or renovations
There is a concern for the health and safety of employees, therefore there is a request to
obtain a Material Safety Data Sheet for each paint, in order to verify if any organic
compounds, which are a health risk, are found in the paint.
The committee found that there is a general issue with being in contact with any type of
fumes during work hours.
The committee is asking for a resolution related to the paint and fumes.
11. Proper posting of “ Do not Approach Unknown Dogs” sign in N
building lobby
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The committee agreed that the “Do not Approach Unknown Dogs" needs to officially be
mounted so that it can't be moved. Will need to speak with Arlene Yamamoto regarding
this because she is the one in charge or signage, to install, a work order would need to be
put through for Service.
12. Concerns regarding air quality in Sports Complex
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The ongoing tests of air quality in sports complex, ongoing discussion about measures to
be taken, package results given after 2 tests that where done – wanted by the committee
The committee brought up the issue of poor air quality in the Sports Complex. The follow
up of this issue has been a series of 2 tests have been done and we have received the
results of two of those tests. Following this, 6 recommendations have been given that are
being followed up by the college.
Follow ups: all carpets that may have been an issue where removed, air ducts have been
cleaned, there is also testing being done in the shower area. The college is awaiting results
from the lab.
13. Safety Issues raised by the Societe Logique report on accessibility
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In July 2013, there was a report given on accessibility.
Accessibility project started; has no end date
Amongst the many items about accessibility, some items where related to safety and
security.
The bulk of items that concern safety and security focus on 2 areas; fire safety and
handrails ( the bulk of Vanier handrails are not considered safe)
There is a report that is being presented to the board of the College, to get the College to
start working on a list of priorities.
Proposed renovation - automatic door opens ( issue)
All new renovation or constructions plans are being verified to make sure they are up to
code
Accessibility project main target ; making all the ramps up to code
Major project that would need to be done is the hand rails college wide.
Visual fire alarm is an issue as the whole building would need to be done at the same time
Bathroom issues are also not up to standard
Vanier College now has 2 Evacuation chairs; one in the main building and one to be
installed in the N building
Next meeting ̴September - intranet by that time - get email and internet set up by that time as well